Abstract
Three-dimensional X-ray diffraction (3DXRD), a method for quantifying the position, orientation and elastic strain of large ensembles of single crystals, has recently emerged as an important tool for studying the mechanical response of granular materials during compaction. Applications have demonstrated the utility of 3DXRD and X-ray computed tomography (XRCT) for assessing strains, particle stresses and orientations, inter-particle contacts and forces, particle fracture mechanics, and porosity evolution in situ. Although past studies employing 3DXRD and XRCT have elucidated the mechanics of spherical particle packings and angular particle packings with a small number of particles, there has been limited effort to date in studying angular particle packings with a large number of particles and in comparing the mechanics of these packings with those composed of a large number of spherical particles. Therefore, the focus of the present paper is on the mechanics of several hundred angular particles during compaction using in situ 3DXRD to study the crystal structure, kinematics, stresses and rotations of angular quartz grains. Comparisons are also made between the compaction response of angular grains and that of spherical grains, and stress-induced twinning within individual grains is discussed.
Highlights
X-ray computed tomography (XRCT) has been increasingly used to characterize the in situ mechanical behavior of granular materials during compaction
XRCT and 3DXRD have been employed in important studies of angular grains (Cil et al, 2017; Imseeh & Alshibli, 2018), the majority of prior work has focused on spherical grains or a small number of angular grains
We focus on examining intra-grain crystal structure and grain rotations, which are known to play an important role in the mechanical response of granular materials and, in the case of rotations, play an important role in micromorphic theories describing their behavior (Chen & Lan, 2009; Goddard et al, 2007)
Summary
X-ray computed tomography (XRCT) has been increasingly used to characterize the in situ mechanical behavior of granular materials during compaction. This section discusses correlations between grain rotations and other mechanical responses, including grain displacements, grain angularity and grain stresses as well as the initial packing of the sample. x4 provides a brief discussion and concluding remarks
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